Thoughts on skin lesion?
Hi all 😀
I'm new to this forum and I wanted to post on behalf of my Mum - who is currently worried about a skin lesion on the back of her head / on her neck, behind her ear.
She has had this for approx 2-3 months now - it hasn't grown since it first appeared, but it does change frequently - going from flat, to raised, to crusty and sometimes even bleeding (only when squeezed, which I keep telling her to stop!) - sometimes it looks just like a normal pimple, but I'm concerned that it has been there for a few months now without going away.
She keeps putting off going to the doctor to get it assessed despite me nagging her - so I wanted to please ask for some people's opinions on this forum which might help encourage her to get it looked at?
She is 52 years old and has no previous history with skin cancer.
I appreciate that no-one can confirm or diagnose via a forum, but any thoughts on this would be very much appreciated. I have attached a recent photo...
Thanks so much for reading.
All the best,
Sam
Hi Sam @sampmiller! I can definitely appreciate your concern for your mom's skin lesion, especially since you mentioned it changes frequently. Like you mentioned, we can't offer a diagnosis, but I would strongly encourage her to get this checked by her doctor. I also wanted to include some images from our site of different types of skin cancer, just to help highlight that it can present in so many different ways https://skincancer.net/images/types. Like many in our community say, when in doubt, check it out. I hope she is able to have this looked at to give you both peace of mind. All my best, Julie (team member)
...Your mom is definitely fortunate to have you! You are doing the right thing in being proactive and encouraging her to see a doctor. Just the fact that you can't easily explain what it is and what caused it is enough to get a dermatologist's opinion. I can say from my own experience, that the spots I have had removed that turned out to be cancerous were ones that lingered no matter what I tried to do to get rid of them.
I am going to piggyback off Julie's comment and share a couple of articles you might find useful as you encourage your mom to see a doctor.
https://skincancer.net/life-with-skin-cancer/now-you-see-it
This one is a great tool to keep handy:
https://skincancer.net/clinical/abcdes-melanoma
I am keeping you both in my thoughts as you move toward a diagnosis. Please keep us updated on your mom's diagnosis. We are here for you both!
April, SkinCancer.net, Moderator
